Post race depression

Well friends, my races are over & I've entered post race funk. I don't know when or how far my next race will be (even though everyone keeps asking!!). This week I fell off the wagon - hard. I'm drinking coffee again (which was the plan) but also have allowed more sugary treats than I had anticipated.

Monday I will start focusing on weight loss again instead of training for something. I'm looking forward to spinning & Pilates again. Most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing that magic goal number on the scale!

I'm going to also attempt something radical for me - BALANCE. I'm very much an all-or-nothing personality. It's zero tolerance on sugar or it's everything. I'm at the gym daily or I don't go at all. I'm going to try exceptionally hard to achieve a more balanced lifestyle, to recognize that one slip isn't the end & that I can skip a day here and there!

I'm spending the next few days cleaning, organizing and finishing up some crafty things, both personal (my little Halloween pirates are still costume-less!!) and professional (some cool new things are coming to Spaghetti on the Wall soon!). But Monday morning I can't wait to get back to my circuit class and give it my ALL!

Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon - St Louis

Well, it's over! I celebrated my 31st birthday today with a fabulous 13.1 mile run! 

Since I knew I had to get up at 5:15, I set everything up last night. I set out my clothing, my hydration and nutrition, shoes, etc.   

This morning, all I had to do was get dressed, get everything in the car and apply my KT tape! I ate a banana, drank my 5hr energy and we were on our way! 

I won't lie, I came out of the gate hard.  My first two miles I ran in a 9:48 min/mile.  It was comfortable, I wasn't pushing myself too hard.  I got really excited because I was close to the 2:30 pace runners.  Then, suddenly, I PASSED the 2:30 pace runners! 

Around mile 3.75/4, I dropped a water bottle. Someone caught up to me and told me, but I was doing SUCH a good pace, I decided not to go back for it. 

It wasn't until mile 8 that I started to feel the burn out from starting fast. My feet were hurting - that was it! I felt my 2:15 goal slipping away. I kept telling myself "Only 5 more miles - YOU HAVE THIS" and trying to take myself out of the equation. I started looking at the architecture of downtown St. Louis, that I ordinarily wouldn't see. I was looking at all the fall leaves. I was looking at the signs that people posted (Shout out to the awesome truth-teller around mile 8 with the sign saying "you are NOT almost done!") (and the kid with the sign "Those are NOT tears of pain, you are just sweating out of your eyeballs!!").  I spent a few miles with my headphones out (ignoring the voice of my pace and total time, since it was off by a good .3 of a mile!) just taking in all the sights and sounds around me. 

In the end, friends - I am proud of my finish.  Here are the facts, my OFFICIAL time: 

As you can see, I missed my DREAM goal time of 2:15, but I wasn't far off at 2:24. I'm proud of my placing withing my gender and my division, even "overall" wasn't a bad place! I shaved almost a full 30 minutes off of my time from the Princess race in February and even 2 minutes off of my 10K time from last WEEKEND!  

All in all? Happy freaking birthday to me!!

Less than 48 hours....

Until the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon here in St. Louis!!

Not gonna lie, I'm a bit freaked out. The most I've run this training round is 8 miles, thanks to my dumb IT band and this silly cold that I can't seem to shake. 6.2 last weekend was ok, but there were moments that I wanted to quit. And this weekend, I have to go TWICE that distance?

I talked to a LOT of people (trainers, runners, atheletes, etc) about my IT band injury. One of them said "If you've run a half before, you're 80% of the way there. It's mostly mental - if you THINK you can do it and you KNOW you HAVE done it, you're almost there." I'm trying to keep that in mind.

I HAVE done this. 

I CAN finish. 

It WILL NOT kill me. 

I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself to PR (which shouldn't be HARD) but ideally would love to get a time between 2:15 and 2:30.  I got a pace tattoo today at the expo for a 2:15 time. Then at least I can pace myself accordingly.

My race day plans:

1. Eat a slice of bread with PB as soon as I wake up. (NO aleve this time!)
2. Drink a 5hr Energy about 20 min before start. 
3. Honey Stinger 5 min before start. 
4. Sport beans about every half hour.
5. Nuun in my water bottles. Will stop for water, but not Gatorade or Gu. 
6. Don't die. 

Afterwards, we will go home, I will probably take a nice ice bath and a nap. Oh and have a GIANT CUP OF COFFEE!! I can't WAIT to have my coffee back! Not necessarily the caffeine but the comfort of it!

That evening we'll be going out to celebrate the big 3-1. :-)  Nothing scary about it, since my 30th year has turned out to be the best year of my life  - so far!

Race Day! Halloween 10K

Well, I did it! 10K #2 under my belt.

I didn't make my ULTIMATE goal of a 10K under 60 minutes. HOWEVER, all things considered (illness this past week, leg injury & lack of sleep) I did SO much better than I expected and faster than I've ever actually run 6.2 miles!

2012 Results

2011 Results

Before the race

So official time is 1:08:54!! SO proud of that time! My running buddy, Sara, kept me moving for SURE! There were a few times I wanted to quit and walk but just knowing she was still going made me want to push onward too! (Shout out to Sara, whose furthest run was 4.5 miles before this morning!! WTG, Sara!)

I woke up at 5:30, before my alarm (crazy for me!) this morning. I popped an Aleve and jumped in the shower. After I got out, my chest and back started hurting SO BADLY! I didn't even think about that Aleve I took - on an empty stomach. I writhed in pain for awhile then I ate a banana (detox oops #1), got my act together, finished getting everything to the car and off we went!

I had NO.PAIN running!! One whole week of pain, never easing up and yet this morning - no pain. I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life!  I am looking forward to getting back to all of my workout classes this week (especially looking forward to yoga Tuesday!)

After the race, though, I did drink a chocolate milk (good recovery drink!, but detox oops #2) and took a few bites of a cinnamon chip roll (although I was so dehydrated, it felt like I was chewing sawdust!).

Then it was on to the 1 mile fun run with my girl! We've run a few "test" miles and I knew she would walk a lot of it. She did a FANTASTIC job, though, and fully deserves her first medal. She was SO proud of the medal and was breathing on it and "shining" it the whole way home. <3


So what's next? Well, this week I am getting back to my training (cross training and easy running) and continuing my detox(es).  I'm finding it easier and easier to function in the morning without coffee (crazy, I know!) and I haven't been craving sugar hardly at all! I don't know how much of this is due to the cold I have, but whatever the reason, I'll take it!

Here's to a great week and another successful race next weekend! Half marathon, here I come!!

Detox Day 6: FINALLY

Today was it. The first day I didn't fall asleep watching my kids play, yawn through a drive somewhere or pass out the second I stopped moving!! I started taking a sub-lingual B-12 supplement, I don't know if that helped with my energy level or if getting a full night of sleep (the baby went to sleep pretty easily last night-not perfect like usual, but I wasn't in there all night!)


I've been really careful about my sugar! Wanna see?

And the sugar that I HAVE eaten? Lactose (the "ok" kind in milk) and the sugars from my apple that I put in my juice.  That's IT.

Today was no different:

(this is so much easier than typing it all out :-) and so much more truth telling too!!!)


So tomorrow is the FIRST of the TWO big races!

10K is tomorrow am.  Tonight, I will be putting my Minnie Mouse costume together, getting my running shoes ready (complete with red laces!) and hydrating! Remembering to use body glide in the am (I've had some OUCHY races in the past! No more!), applying KT tape before we leave, and of course bringing my bib (which has my "beer me" sticker on the back!).

Hopefully will be checking in tomorrow with a PR!

Detox days 4 & 5

Oops. The non-sleep drama continues in our house! I was rocking AJ until 11pm last night when I finally gave up and brought him to bed with me, in hopes of getting just a few hours of sleep!

So yesterday was awful. Early wakeup at 6am by my little man. Sinus pain. No nap + hours of screaming, then the whole bedtime issue. My eating was less than stellar!!

Breakfast:
Jimmy Dean sandwich
Tea

Lunch:
Cracked pepper turkey (4 slices)
Ah!zeefa lentil dip with carrot sticks
Kettle chips (lots and lots- these we're my stress eating food yesterday)

Dinner:
Homemade spaghetti sauce & angel hair pasta (ridiculous amount, probably 2 cups?)
Buttermilk biscuit
Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green pepper) with herbs de Provence dressing


Today, also not stellar in the opposite direction...

Breakfast:
Licorice tea

Lunch:
2 slices of cracked pepper turkey
Chips (1.5 servings)

Dinner:
Cuban sandwich
Waffle fries (passed on ketchup, one of the many hidden sugary foods!)
Beer


Today was a lot better as far as being ridiculously tired. I definitely didn't randomly fall asleep anywhere - yay! Feeling a lot better with my cold, too.

AND! My LEG is finally feeling better!! Combination of ice and foam rolling. Learning a lot about muscles this week!! Who knew - IT band starts at your hip and goes all the way to your ankle. So the soreness I've felt above my hips for weeks now? PROBABLY related to the pain in my lower leg now!  Rolling out my thigh has eased the pain in my lower leg.

I bought some KT tape this morning, which I will apply tomorrow (it says it will stick for multiple days). This stuff is the stuff you see on Olympic athletes when they look like they are wearing duct tape all over them. I let my four year old daughter pick the color, so of course I have HOT PINK :-)

So tomorrow, I will tape my leg and rest some more for our race! *Did I mention my daughter is running in the kids' fun run? one mile for my big girl!*  Our "carb load" will be sweet potatoes and baked chicken.

Detox Day 3; still kicking!

Still here. Still have a brutal cold and two kids who are waking CONSTANTLY at night! I picked a doozy of a week to quit caffeine!

Took the morning off to lay around in pjs with my kids, watch movies and rest. I am planning on attempting a run tomorrow to see how my leg is feeling. Hoping to get outside and run instead of a treadmill.

Breakfast:
Lemon & Ginger tea
Jimmy Dean D'Lights Turkey sausage & Egg muffin

Lunch:
Kale, turkey sausage & potato soup
Slice of homemade wheat bread
String cheese

Dinner:
Spinach wrap with buffalo grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato & ranch (oops, fell off the wagon on that one, I didn't even think about it having HFCS!!) 
Sauteed zucchini, carrots & portobello mushrooms
a few steak fries

Octoberfest & a glass of rose´ wine

I've only had about 20 oz of water so far, but I tend to load up on water just before bedtime, so I imagine I'll get another 40-60oz in before bed.


So T-4 days to my 10K and I'm just hoping to be able to run a few miles tomorrow. I'm still angry - all the training and I SHOULD NOT be in this position!!

I have a friend who just ran an AMAZING half marathon. She has been SUCH an inspiration in her training and weight loss, it makes me just want to go out and RUN and I feel so helpless that I can't do it! 

Regardless of how my leg feels, I WILL be running my race on Sunday. Dressed as Minnie Mouse if I can pull it all together in the next few days :-)

Detox Day 2

I went to bed at 8:30 last night. However I didn't sleep well because of the cold/sinus infection I'm working on!

Today has been pretty decent, aside from being sick.

Breakfast:
Dandelion tea (oops, forgot to eat more!!)

Lunch:
Slice of homemade wheat bread
2 slices of angus roast beef
2Tbsp red pepper hummus
1oz pita chips

Dinner:
1 serving Undone stuffed peppers
1 homemade roll
1 Sam Adams Octoberfest

40 oz water


I picked up my produce co-op order tonight. That included:
5 bunches of kale
10lbs jumbo carrots
8 apples
6 pears
1 lb grapes
1 head of Romaine
1 head of iceberg
celery
tomatoes
3 cucumbers
Coconut oil
Sunflower seed meats (for hubby!)
2 butternut squash
4 peppers
7 bananas

*Speaking of which, I could use a few butternut squash recipes!! I have NO idea what to do with them!*

So I'll be good for juice for awhile. Now if I could just get my energy up so that I can stand up long enough to MAKE the juice!  All in all, I have no headache, I don't feel BAD except for tired. I'm not missing sugar yet.


AFA my leg: the pain is still there, but it's MUCH less now. Hoping if I give myself one more day off, I can test it out on Thursday or Friday, then run my race on Sunday. Here's hoping!!

Detox Day 1

Breakfast:
Plain Greek yogurt with 1 tsp cinnamon
Dandelion tea

Lunch:
2 slices of angus roast beef
Pita chips
22 oz green juice (kale, watercress, lemon, 2 carrots, a few grapes to make it palatable!)

Dinner:
Turkey sausage, kale & potato soup
Homemade wheat bread
Wine

So far, no caffeine headaches or irritability. Just extreme tiredness, as expected!! I do have a cold or sinus infection, but it's unrelated to the quitting!

I saw this today and it was exactly what I needed to read:

Angry.

I'm angry today. I was angry yesterday too, but at least I still had hope.

My leg is injured. I can't pinpoint if it's IT band pain or some kind of shin splint. 

I've been searching the internet trying to find SOMEONE that has pain in the same or similar place.  I visited a running store yesterday that suggested IT band pain and I purchased a foam roller. As I've been rolling, I've realized the pain is different than I was able to explain.
 

I found this drawing and can identify now that my pain is in the Tibialis anterior muscle. Foam rolling down the side/front of my leg is EXCRUCIATING.   It doesn't hurt all the time, just when I put pressure on the ball of my foot. It doesn't hurt to go up and down stairs, it doesn't hurt to walk except about every 15th step. 

I feel like I COULD go running. But is it worth the pain I might experience just to prove I can still do it?




Now I'm just angry.

I'm angry that everything I've read says to rest until it's better. I want someone to tell me to RUN THROUGH THE PAIN. I want someone to tell me a magic stretch or pill that will take the pain away.  I do NOT want to let myself down with the races I have coming up.

I'm angry I wound up skipping my 10 mile run this weekend. I was so excited to go, I was excited to see what my time would be. I've been so happy to see my training run times going down from races I've run in the past.

I'm angry because I feel like I've let myself, my family & friends and all of you down. I still plan on running my races, but I don't think my times will be anything special.

I'm angry because I'm sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else's success. While I am HAPPY for them, I have been working my TAIL off to accomplish something too. But instead of running a great exhilarating 10 miles today, I've been eating all.the.things and moping.

I'm just angry.

/pity party

Monday is Coming!

What I wanted to have for dinner:

Homemade cinnamon rolls

What I did have for dinner:

Kale, beets, carrots, cucumber, lemon, tomato & apple juice

Monday is my goal day. I am quitting sugar again. I am also going to {attempt} to quit/dramatically reduce my caffeine. I have been reading up on half marathon tapering and the benefit of quitting caffeine before a race has come up several times.

A little caffeine is often a habitual start or pick-me-up during the day; however, when daily caffeine consumption becomes so routine that a continuous IV would work just as well, some question whether the ergogenic effect may be dampened. According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, ergogenic response during endurance exercise is greater and lasts longer in nonusers versus users.  Running Times

So with one week before the 10K and two before the half marathon, I am hoping to help my performance along with some good fuel and hard work!

So starting Monday - keep me accountable!! No sugar, no caffeine!

Now I'm off to chug my juice, have my cinnamon roll - because come on, they are delicious- and get some sleep. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting a cold and that is NOT what I need right now!!

8 Miles - Check.

Ran 8 miles on Saturday. The cool part? It took me less time to run 8 this year than it did to run my 10K last October.  THAT, my friends, is accomplishment!

I don't know if I'm on track to do a sub-60min race at the 10K, but it is still on my radar.

This week's plan:
10/1 ~ Monday: Two miles in 20 minutes // Circuit class
10/2 ~Tuesday: Rest
10/3 ~Wednesday: Four miles (dreadmill) // Circuit class
10/4 ~Thursday: Six miles (trail)
10/5 ~Friday: rest
10/6 ~Saturday: 10 miles (trail)
10/7 ~Sunday: Rest


I have to say, I felt awesome after my 8 miles on Saturday. I stretched at the park, then came home and sat in a cold bath for about 10 minutes. Chilly, but it did it's job. I took a shower then popped two Aleve, yay for no knee pain!

However, after my "easy 2" on Monday, my shins were so.sore. Thankfully the trainer in the circuit class showed me some stretches that relieved the pain and I haven't felt it since!

I will be stretching my shins a bit before my run tomorrow and Thursday for sure!

I just read the other day to wean from caffeine